dick durbin, number two senate democrat and close to the white house and gave a speech yesterday about the entitlement aspect. medicare, medicaid. the entitlement aspect and basically said we don't want entitlements to be part of the immediate talks january 1st but think as democrats they should be part of longer terms talks for next year. i'm just wondering, is there a sense from the white house among democrats of what it is they're prepared to give in on on terms of entitlement? >> not enough to satisfy the republicans, this's for sure. they say up here they have seen nothing. unfortunately, the few people who are beginning to even talk about the need for eventual compromise like a tom cole, like a dick durbin are quickly getting smacked down here, particularly on the republican side. that congressman just got a spanking from john boehner in front of his caucus today so there's -- doesn't seem to be any movement in that direction. i was at a breakfast with bowles and simpson this morning and erskine bowles saying he think there is's a 1 in 3 chance of this working out before the fisc